Moonlight
by Akane-Arisu
Summary: Her family had been killed in a fire and now she was being shipped off to another town to live with her uncle that she has little memory of. But the town that he lives in, isn't exactly, normal. This is a Renruki fic and an AU
1. Prologue

**This is my first fic so I hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach **

It had been two weeks after the death of her sister and brother in law and now Rukia found herself on a small jet, next to an arguing man and woman. She was trapped up against the small plane window. Unfortunately the blue overnight bag containing her iPhone, which Momo had helped her load with music for the trip, was stuffed in the overhead compartment, 4 rows away. She had figured that she could get it once they were airborne, but the guy on the aisle had made the woman next to her staddle him in an effort to escape the row and use the rest room. So Rukia had decided to not bother, since she really wasn't in the mood to straddle someone, no matter how tempting it was.

"Souske Aizen, is a genius," the man was saying to the woman, who smiled politely at him as she adverted her gaze in the other direction. Everything in her body language, showed that she wanted him to shut up. "I'm going to his hideout, although it's more like a meeting for all the important people to go to."  
The man puffed up a little. He had thin white hair and his smile reminded her of a fox. "You need to embrace the wolf side of your nature." He said with pride "I mean to achieve your goals."

"What's the wolf side?" asked the woman with a slight southern accent "It's the side that has no fear, the side of you that sets a goal and goes after it" He leaned towards her. " Committing yourself completely to a goal."

When she arived at the small airport, she followed the other passengers across the tarmac, eventually making her way into the terminal. She looked around for a familiar face to greet her. But there was none. Her eyes were getting blurry as she stood there holding the stuffed Chappy doll that Momo had given her. It was now damp and stained dark with fresh tears.

Then she saw the Wolf Guy and his 'prey', the polite Southern lady. They were standing strangely close together, were they hooking up? She thought in amazement.

Her sister's old leather suitcase appeared on the carouse. The light caught the initials that were imprintede on it HK- Hisana Kuchiki. She adjusted her bag on her other shoulder as she waited for her suitcase to get in reaching distance. When the suitcase finally circled within reach, she grabbed it and quickly pulled it off the carousel. It was heavier than she thought. Quickly swinging around.

Her throat tightened at the sight before her. She was mad at him. He was the only living realative, that she knew of and he hadn't even come to her sister's funeral. She met his eyes. Something began to show in his face; then it hardened and became cold and emotionless. Even though she hadn't seen him in like 10 years, he didn't look that different at all. He nodded and took the suitcase from her hands, picking it up easily with two fingers as he turned and walked away.

She hurried to keep up with him as he made his way to the entrance of the small airport. Around her, she could see relatives and friends greeting each other, smiling and hugging. Her uncle hadn't even talked to her.

As they made there way into the tiny six space parking lot, she noticed that all the cars in the lot were really old and run-down. Her uncle got into a red truck that, in her opinion, belonged in the junkyard. Noticing that he was just sitting there waiting for her, she quickly climbed into the rusty old truck. She placed her blue overnight bag next to her and clutched the Chappy doll against her chest. Waiting for him to drive.

As they drove out of the parking lot and down the road, she noticed that there was barely any buildings in sight. They passed an old warehouse and a small fast food place. She wanted to ask him if they could stop by and get something to eat, but she didn't, because to make the request, she would have to talk to him and right now that was the last thing she wanted to do.

She remembered the last time she came and visited her uncle, how hard she had laughed at thinking that her brother had grew up in the middle of nowhere. They had still been alive back then, both her sister Hisana and her husband Byakuya, that was the last trip that they had taken together.

Fresh tears started to form in her eyes, she clenched her hands remembering how hard it had been after her sister had died. The only reason she was able to get through it all, was because she had her best friend Momo there with her. Now she was all alone.

"You're a senior this year, right?" He asked her

This was the first that he had talked, since he had picked her up and she was relieved that he hadn't asked her anything about her sister's death.

"Yeah. School started about a month ago. I'm gonna miss everything. Prom. Graduation, everything," she said.

"We've got those thing here," he counterd.

Was he trying to make her fell better?

"But, it's not the same here," she said, sticken.

"Sure it is everythings the same no matter where you go, it's always just a bunch of young kids struggling to cope with life." He said

She went silent. She wanted to go back, to go home. She didn't want to be here, she didn't belong here. She belonged in the busy streets of L.A, not in this isolated town in the middle of nowhere.

"I wanna go back," she said, trying not to show any emotions in her voice.

He looked at her.

"What do you mean back?" he asked

"I want to go back, back to L.A back to where I belong, I want to go home." She said, still trying to keep her voice from cracking.

There was a silence as he adverted his gaze back to the road before speaking to her again.

"Rukia, you are home."

**I would like to thank Nancy holder and Debby Viguie for the main plot.**

**Please review!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Well heres chapter 2 fir of all I apologize for the wait, its just Ive been way to busy with last minute assignments and stuff. But now that the school year is over I am back to writing.**

**Disclaimer; I don't own bleach and the original plot belongs to Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie, I'm just changing a few bits and "Bleachifying" it. **

This can't be happening. Thought Rukia as her uncle handed her the keys to his front door as he went back to retrieve her suitcase. The sun began to set and she barely noticed the illuminated exterior of the rustic two-story log cabin as she made her way up the planked staircase, to an old wooden door. Her hands were shaking too badly for her to push the key into the lock. Tears forming in her eyes. His footsteps echoed on the wooden floorboards as he came up behind her, took the key from her shaking hands and opened the door. He stepped back to let her in.

She entered the room and her lips parted in shock. The lounge room was covered in large oil paintings of mountains and forest landscapes, animal heads hung on the rotting wood walls. Deer, moose, rabbit heads, were displayed as trophies along the top of a wooden cupboard. Animals that had been beautiful in life, hung all around the room. Rukia though she was gonna throw up. She was a vegetarian and she and Momo had been active in animal rights laws. To her, her uncle's living room was a chamber of horrors. Why hadn't she remembered that from her last visit?

"Come here, let me show you around," he said.

"Where's my room?" She managed to say. "I just feel like lying down."

He shrugged "Okay then. Follow me."

On the right side of the modest-sized living room, an old wooden staircase passed more heads, a medium-sized rifle sat on an old metal rack and what appeared to be a cracked glass window. Her uncle carried her suitcase, while she wrapped her hands around her stuffed chappy doll. She hated climbing the stairs so close to the blank, watchful glass eyes averted her attention to the cracked window. The cracked glass window was stained in a thick layer of what looked like red paint but on a cold night like tonight, it gave the appearance of blood.

He reached the second floor and turned right, moving down a dark corridor featuring some more deer heads and a small wall sconces that looked like old fashioned gas lights. A wooden door to her left was opened and the light from the hall revealed a bathroom sink. That must be the bathroom she thought. They continued to walk down the dark hall, when he suddenly stopped and pushed on the door at the end of the hall, it opened.

The wall sloped and there was a small window positioned directly above a queen sized bed to provide skylight. A metal shelf on the right held two ivy pots and under it a wooden nightstand held an antique lamp with cranberry coloured glass. There was a small dressing table directly across from the bed, with a big circular mirror. On it was a bottle of furniture polish and a dirty rag. She smelt the lemony scent of the furniture polish and, dust. Maybe he had spent the last couple of days cleaning? To make her feel at home. But it was nothing like her old bedroom. The room that had been burnt to ashes, from the fire.

"Thanks," she said stiffly.

He put down her suitcase and went over to the dressing table to collect the dirty rag and furniture polish. "You must be hungry." He said

"I'm not. Really. I'm just a bit tired" She didn't look at him, but kept her gaze on the patterned rug, positioned in the middle of the room.

When the door clicked shut, she realised that he had already left. She collapsed onto the bed, stretching her arms as she lay there, motionless, as the tears began to stream down her face. After awhile, she forced herself to stop, the last thing she needed was for him to come up and find her like this.

Thunder rumbled; rain splattered against the windows. Although she would never tell anyone she was afraid of lightning and thunder. She never knew why, could it be because there was lightning and thunder on the night of the fire?  
When it finally stopped, she quieted. She walked over to her suitcase and unzipped it. Picking up her phone as she made her way back over to the bed. She flicked on her phone and browsed through her contacts. When she finally found the right number, she clicked on it. She desperately needed to talk to Momo. No reception. Then there must be a landline somewhere, she thought. Most people kept their phones in the kitchen, right.

So she got up again and went down the hall. As she reached the top of the stairs, she smelled smoke. She panicked and ran down the stairs. She was just about to scream, when she saw the fireplace. Instead of looking warm and cozy, it sent a wave of fear through her body. She almost ran back up the stairs at the sight of it.

It's okay. It's normal.

"Normal" was her new most hated word. She cautiously made her way around the corner. Trying her hardest not to advert her gaze from the hanging animal heads that decorated the room. When she found the kitchen, she flicked on the light. Revealing a run-down, but clean-looking kitchen. The blue paint on the aged cabinets was peeling away and the counter tops were rusty and chipped at the ends. The front of his ancient white fridge held nothing, but a calendar that was from 1984.

She was getting a bit thirsty now, so she opened the fridge in an attempt to find water. The fridge was bare, it held nothing in it but a six-pack of beer, an old molded loaf of bread and a package wrapped in butchers paper. Blood was soaking through the paper.

"Eww, gross!" Shrieked Rukia as she slammed the door of the ancient fridge shut. She took a few steps back, before she continued her search for a wall phone. Finding nothing. She decided to start looking through some of the drawers. Notepads, scissors, pens, pencils and a dog leash.

She picked up the leash, remembering the dog from her brother in law's story. She heard a light scratching sound against the back door. Maybe it's the dog. She thought.  
With the leash still in her hand, she made her way to the wooden back door, when she opened the door, the light from the kitchen spilled onto a small planked porch. The moonlight cast light on the tiny raindrops that covered the branches of every tree. It was so different here, the smell of mud and burning wood filled her nostrils. She walked 3 steps off the porch, onto flat stones arranged to form a path.

The extensive green leaves of the tree in front of her began to rustling.

"Doggie?" she called softly

The back door, slammed open and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Turning around, she saw her uncle, a rifle in his hand. Her eyes widened and she stumbled towards the tree.

"Rukia!" he shouted, "Get in here now!"  
She lifted her hand and showed him the leash. "I was just looking for your dog"

"I don't have a dog." He adverted his gaze to the tree behind her. "Anymore."

"Hello?" a male voice called from the front of the house. "Is this a bad time?"

Rukia sighed, all she wanted was a cup of water and to talk to her best friend, she didn't want to have to be social, especially not now.

"We have company," he said "Please come inside, it's dangerous out there."

Dangerous, what did he mean dangerous, she was barely 2 metres from the house and he's standing out here with a shot gun in his hands. It was already creeping her out that he has dead animal heads in his house, but apparently he also has loaded shot guns as well.

"Fine, but can I borrow your phone?" She asked

"Hello!" the voice called again "Kuchiki, you in there?"

"Just give me a minute" her uncle almost shouted back.

She stepped back onto the porch, feeling a little more relaxed.

"Rukia" He said " You see around here we have this whole friendly hospitality tradition, so I'm expecting that you will" he trailed off

"You want me to introduce myself, don't you" she said.

"That is correct," He said.

"Fine then, so if I introduce myself to him then can I make a phone call to my best friend," she asked.

"Then you can make a call" He clarified

They walked back into the kitchen, where she returned the dog leash to the drawer. She the walked into the living room with her uncle. The front door was open, but the porch light was off, there was someone standing out on the porch, he was wearing a black leather jacket that covered most of his features, but she couldn't help but notice how big he was, he looked about six or seven feat tall, if not more and his muscles were clearly visible under the thick leather jacket. But the most suprising thing about this boy, was his hair. He had long scarlet hair that was tied into a ponytail, even on a dark night like tonight, his scarlet red hair still seemed to be able to stand out and when the light of the moon hit it, it looked like it was glowing. There was only one word she could think of that would describe him "Wild".

He slung his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans and smiled at her. It sent chills up her spine. There was something about him that made her tingle.

"Hey, Rukia." He said. She found herself smiling back which was really weird, because just a second ago there was nothing on earth that could make her smile.

"Renji," Her uncle said in greeting. So his name was Renji, she liked that name.

"Well what are you waiting for, get in here" Said her uncle as he motioned with his hands to get in

"Right" Said Renji, taking off his shoes and walking in.

When he walked past her, he winked. Which made her blush a bit.

They walked into the living room and took a seat at the dining table, while her uncle went and got the food. Leaving her and Renji to sit awkwardly in silence. After awhile, he came back with a bowl of ... Salad? Or at least she thought was salad.

He placed the bowl on the table and sat down in the empty chair.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" He asked "Let's eat"

She looked at the bowl again, she was so glad that they weren't eating some sort of steak or something, because after all she was a vegetarian. But looking at Renji, it was quiet obvious that he wasn't. He looked at the dish before him, a horrified expression on his face.

"Hey, Kuchiki what is that?" Asked Renji pointing to the dish fearfully

"Well, that my son, is what you call a salad" He replied in a fatherly voice

"So, people actually eat that stuff"

"Yes, it's actually really healthy and good for you"

Rukia watched their conversation with amusement. Was this really the first time, he's seen salad? she wondered After a few more questions, Renji took a bit of the salad and placed it on his plate. Staring at it for a good 10 minutes before actually putting it in his mouth and like she had predicted it came out almost as fast as it had came , he definitely wasn't a vegetarian.

As dinner progressed, she found that it wasn't half as bad that she had thought it would be earlier, in fact she was enjoying it, quiet a lot. It amused her how hot-headed Renji was and how easy it was to get him angry. And the fact that he could be absolutely clueless of what was going on around him, only added to her amusement.

"Well, Rukia" Said her uncle " There is a reason I've invited Renji over tonight"

All eyes went to him

"Really?" She said a little confused

"Yeah well what you see here" He pointed to Renji "Is your ride to and from school every morning and afternoon, starting from tomorrow" He announced

"B-But" She was really scared about this whole driving to school thing, what if he got lost, or worst, crashed?

"No buts, I've already paid him 30 bucks so there's no way your refusing" Her uncle said

Oh great, now she was certain she would die.

**I would like to thank Memories Of Wind for reviewing thank you, I really appreciate it**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own bleach or any of it's characters and the original plot belongs to Debbie Vigue and Nancy Holder.**

**Oh and i'm so sorry for the late update, I was supposed to have this out yesterday, but I was way too busy on New Years Day so, I decided to finish it off today.**

When she finally crawled into bed that night she felt exhausted. She looked up at the ceiling, listening to the light pour of rain as it fell against the skylight. Everything was different here. She wondered if she'd ever get to sleep, but her exhaustion was too much for just simple thoughts to keep her awake, so within a few minutes she was out like a lamp. Completely forgetting about the all important phone call to her best friend Momo.

She startled awake a few hours later, heart pounding, palms sweating. It was still dark and it was still raining. What had woken her up? She looked around the room, her throat felt dry and she really needed something to drink. After a bit, she got out of the bed and tiptoed down the hall. Her uncle's door was shut but she could hear him snoring, so she ran down the stairs as quickly and as quietly as she could catching glimpses of the ever so terrifying animal heads.

She stumbled into the kitchen. Moonlight shone through the small gaps in the curtains and reflected onto the rusty countertops. She tried to find the light switch, running her hands across the smooth tiled walls in hope that she would eventually come across the light switch. But she couldn't seem to find it. She suddenly jerked her hand away as she felt something furry against her hand and remembered all the dead animal heads that were hung up all across the house. She hoped that what she had just touched was not an animal head. She turned in the other direction and continued her search for the light switch. Lightning crackled, making her jump. Her heart beat quickened. Where is that damn light switch? She thought as she continued her search.

Shoulders tight, arms crossed. She was now standing in the middle of the room in the semidarkness. Sighing she walked over to the cupboard, retrieved a glass, went over to the sink and filled it up and drank.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and all of a sudden she felt cold and uncomfortable. Someone is watching me, she thought.

But all she saw in the small space between the curtains, was the continues fall of raindrops.

Shadows shifted; something was definitely moving out there.  
Wind, it's probably just the wind, she told herself. Squirrels.

Rukia couldn't remember whether or not her uncle had locked the back door. She took a step forward, and then . . . that same scratching sound. She stepped backwards. Then she heard something, low and rumbling. Was it Thunder or a Growl? Scared, she bolted out of the kitchen, running straight into the dinning table. Wincing at the pain, she turned to flee.

She sprinted all the way up the stairs and back into her room. A sudden relief washed through her. She picked up her stuffed Chappy doll and squeezed it tightly against her chest as she got back in the bed.

I'm not gonna invite you in" She spoke "Rukia" Her uncle said from the other side of the door, "Are you okay?"

She felt guilty now that she had woke him up over some noise she had heard.

"Umm, well I went to get some water, and then I thought I saw something" She hesitated " And there was a noise. It kinda sounded like something growling."

"I'll go check"

She grimaced, embarrassed. But she couldn't deny that soothing feeling she felt when he told her that he'd at least go check for her. But then, what if something was out there, what would happen to her uncle, the only family she has left?

"Wait, I wanna come with you" She suddenly announced, as she quickly got out of the bed, walked across the room and opened the door.

He was already half way down the hall, and carrying a rifle in his left hand. He stopped, realizing that she was right behind him, "No Rukia, you can go back to sleep. It's probably just nothing."

"Then why are you holding a rifle?" She asked.

"Stay in your room," he ordered, stunned by the harshness of his voice. And she knew by the way he looked at her, that there was no way on earth he thought it was nothing.

But in the end, she went back to her room. Sitting on the edge of her bed, arms crossed. She shifted her weighed, bracing herself for another catastrophe to happen. She was certain that something bad was about to happen. She was panicking, but still she managed to keep a straight face.

How long had she sat there?

It felt like hours, but she knew in reality it had probably just been a few minutes. She was scared. Scared of loosing him, scared because the only family she had left, was out risking his life, because of some silly noise she had heard. Finally she had decided she had, had enough. She walked over to the door, yanking it open.

Only to find her uncle on the other side, his hand raised in mid-air ready to knock on the door.

"Hi" She managed to say

His hair and shirt were soaked. The rifle he had, was gone now; he was wiping his face with a wet tea towel. His face looked a bit pale

Did he find something? She wondered

"Well, here's the thing" He said "Can I come in?"

She moved out-of-the-way and there was a chair right across from the bed, that she assumed he would sit on. So she sat on the bed. But he for some strange reason, decided to stay standing. He glanced around the room, as if to consider what he was about to tell her.

"Well, about a week ago, a girl was killed,"he began

"Oh, I'm so sorry, was she someone you knew?" She said, alarmed

"She had been killed in the forest" He gave her a long look "She was had been alone when it had happened."

Rukia waited. Then it hit her, they lived in the forest, his house was surrounded by trees.

"I wont go in the forest alone." She said, as the reality hit her. "I'm not a hiker. Or a mountain person. I'm a beach person." She added.

"This is not a joke." He said seriously "She is dead."

"I don't mean to sound like I don't care" She said, which was true, she did care. In fact, she was terrified.

"I promise, I wont go out there alone."

He opened his mouth as if he was gonna say something. But just sighed and shook his head.

"Well, good night Rukia" He said instead

"Good night" She replied

She was sorry for the girl who had been killed. But she was angry at her uncle for dragging her out here in the forest, to live with him. In a forest that, she couldn't even take a few steps outside, without a fear of getting ripped apart by some wild animal. She grabbed her Chappy doll and almost threw it at the wall, but instead she hugged it against her chest, letting the tears fall down her face as she slowly drifted off to sleep again.

What was out there?

What was that scratching sound?

Why did she feel like someone was watching her?

**The Next Morning**

"Hey Rukia, you ready?" Her uncle yelled " He's here already"

"Coming!" She shouted, as she stuffed the toast in her mouth and ran out the front door, mouth still stuffed with toast.

"Hey, Rukia, you ready?" Asked Renji

Since she was still chewing the toast, she just gave him a thumbs up and nodded.

"Ok then, Renji make sure you drive slowly and don't crash" Said her uncle, jokingly

"Right" Replied Renji

Walking outside, to his car.

"Sweet ride, hey" He said proudly, hopping into his car

She had expected him to have some beat up old truck like her uncle's one. But she was quiet surprised when he showed up in a shiny red mustang, with leather black seats.

"Yeah" Was the only thing she could come up with.

He turned on the engine, that roared like a lion and she waved a bye to her uncle before quickly hoping into the shiny red mustang.

It began to rain as they drove into the rain and greenery. Renji, turned on his iPod and some AC/DC song started to play through the car speakers.

"So...my uncle said, that you got beat up for writing poetry" She said, teasingly

"Oh shit really... maybe when I was four, he's just telling you that to get you less attracted to me" he grinned at her. Which she couldn't help but laugh at.

"Hey, Ru you can get cell coverage here." He said

"That's not my name!" She said stubbornly

"Well, it is now!" He said

Even though she knew it was rude, she couldn't resist the chance to text Momo. So for the rest of the trip to school, she had texted Momo. Momo had been waiting forever, to hear from Rukia. And she was texting her at like 4am at L.A. Rukia glanced up every few minutes to look at Renji. He didn't seem to mind being ignored. He just kept driving through the dark woods like a maniac.

"Hold on" Renji suddenly shouted

Her head shot up, and she grabbed onto the side of the car, as they shot through a pitch black tunnel created by trees and vines.

"Ok, we're almost there, brace yourself for impact" He said

And ahead she could see the end of the pitch black tunnel, he suddenly sped up as they neared the end of the tunnel. And after a few more minutes, he started to slow down as they drove out of the dark tunnel.

She took a deep breath as they drove into an old-looking village. The houses were all built from stone and in front of very house was a small family owned shop. The town wasn't as bad as she and Momo had expected it to be. They passed a fountain that was in the center of a round about and a Led sign was engraved on the side of the fountain, which said "Welcome to Wolf-Country" I wonder what that is? She thought "Well, that's the school" Said Renji as he drove towards the buildings he just pointed to. "Ok, we'll park in the senior's parking lot and then I'll walk you to the front office"

"Ok" She said as he drove towards a parking lot with, a lot of old rusty trucks and 2 big yellow school buses that had just pulled up.

"Hey," He said "I've gotta tell you something" His brown eyes seem to get darker and she coud tell that he was hesitating "About a week ago, just before you arrived, a friend of mine was killed" Of course he would have known her, after all everyone knew everyone around here.

"My uncle, told me" She said

"What exactly did he say to you?" He asked, seriously

"Well he said that she was out in the forest alone. And that she had been killed" She said

He glanced back to the road, maneuvering through the parking lot.

She wondered if the girl was close to him. His girlfriend, maybe.

"There are a lot of urban legends, in a small town like this" He grimaced "Well, her name was Orihime and her death was the hot topic, well until everyone heard about the hollywood movie star that was coming to live here"

"Woah, you mean me?" She burst out, shocked. But he didn't crack a smile. She realized, that he was not only upset, but angry too.

"everyone brought teddy bears, candles and pictures and stuff to school. We all went to her funeral too. But now, now it's like she never even existed. But I havent forgotten, I wont ever forget her."

"I'm so sorry, Renji." She said sincerely

"I'm not trying to blame this all on you, it's just..." There was a silence "I want ya to be careful, okay." He forced a smile.  
"And not just in the forest"

"Right" She replied

I guess he was warning her about being the new girl here.

Once he parked, they both got out of his car and since it was still pouring, they both ran towards the arched entry with everyone else.

It suddenly, felt warmer in the building, she followed Renji as he lead her to the front office. On the way there she took glances at some of her new school mates. Picking out the geeks from the jocks. And guessing who would be popular and unpopular.

She took a deep breath. _Okay Rukia, new school, new rules. You can be anyone you want. Since no one knows you._

Well except for Renji. She noted. As he walked faster, she tried her hardest to keep up. Renji lead her to the door of the front office. And pointed inside.

"Okay, well this is it, I'll come find you at lunch okay, bye" He said before disappearing into the crowd

Leaving her alone, in the sea of people.

**I'm sorry for any spelling mistakes or grammar mistakes.**

**Please Read & Review!**


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